WE54A Magnesium vs. Nickel 718
WE54A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while nickel 718 belongs to the nickel alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (6, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.
For each property being compared, the top bar is WE54A magnesium and the bottom bar is nickel 718.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 44 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 4.3 to 5.6 | |
| 12 to 50 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 98 to 130 | |
| 460 to 760 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 17 | |
| 75 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 150 to 170 | |
| 660 to 950 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 270 to 300 | |
| 930 to 1530 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 180 | |
| 510 to 1330 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 330 | |
| 310 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 170 | |
| 980 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1340 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 570 | |
| 1260 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 960 | |
| 450 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 52 | |
| 11 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 25 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 10 | |
| 1.4 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 47 | |
| 1.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 34 | |
| 75 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.9 | |
| 8.3 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 29 | |
| 13 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 260 | |
| 190 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 900 | |
| 250 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 10 to 14 | |
| 140 to 390 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 360 to 380 | |
| 660 to 4560 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 62 | |
| 23 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 39 to 43 | |
| 31 to 51 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 49 to 51 | |
| 25 to 35 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 28 | |
| 3.0 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 18 to 19 | |
| 27 to 44 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 0 | |
| 0.2 to 0.8 |
| Boron (B), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.0060 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.080 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 17 to 21 |
| Cobalt (Co), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.010 | |
| 11.1 to 24.6 |
| Lithium (Li), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 88.7 to 93.4 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 to 0.35 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 2.8 to 3.3 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 to 0.0050 | |
| 50 to 55 |
| Niobium (Nb), % | 0 | |
| 4.8 to 5.5 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.015 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.010 | |
| 0 to 0.35 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.015 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 | |
| 0.65 to 1.2 |
| Unspecified Rare Earths, % | 1.5 to 4.0 | |
| 0 |
| Yttrium (Y), % | 4.8 to 5.5 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0.4 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |